All fourteen teams in action again this week across thirteen games as Penn State-Rutgers gets the Big Ten season underway. This weekend also marks an opportunity for the depth of the Big Ten to flex its muscles as there are 5 showdowns between ACC and Big Ten foes. What an action packed week. As you would expect, all times are central.
Game of the Week:
Northwestern at Duke
The Wildcats’ hot 2-0 start includes a win over previously ranked Stanford and a dismantling of an FCS team. The defense is allowing a measly three points per game through two and the improved offense has led to pollsters voting them into the top 25 this week at number 23. This is a different beast. Their first road game of the season takes them to a much improved, well coached program in Duke. The Blue Devils would love to repeat what NU did and that is defending home turf against a ranked team in improve their own profile. Lord knows David Cutcliffe is a good enough coach to get the job done. Duke enters 2-0 as well with a win at Tulane to open the season and then pasting their own FCS cupcake. I am hesitant to jump aboard the NU bandwagon but winning in Wallace Wade Stadium would certainly catch my attention.
- Saturday, 11:30am, ESPN3
Sleeper:
Both teams enter with 2-0 marks, both opened at home against FCS teams and both hit the road last week. Both are banged up too, although Pitt missing Heisman level talent James Connor is bigger than the health issues for the Hawks. Iowa has played the tougher schedule so far with FCS runner-up Illinois State and a road trip to power conference rival Iowa State while Pitt has taken on Youngstown State and went to Akron, so conventional wisdom would say Iowa is more “up” to this task. Don’t count out Pitt though, they are coached by Pat Narduzzi who knows this Iowa program well. Talent to talent, these teams are very even highlighted by last year’s 24-20 finish. The bottom line is both are fringe ACC and Big Ten division contenders so the winner of this should gain loads of confidence while the other will feel the 2-0 start was a bit fools-goldish.
- Saturday, 7pm, BTN
Don’t Forget:
The 1980s called, they want their rivalry back (yuck-yuck-yuck). In all seriousness, this is an intriguing game. Miami is 2-0 but with wins over Bethune-Cookman and FAU, no one is totally sure how good they are. Nebraska is 1-1 but a Hail Mary away from being undefeated, too. Lots of talent on the field based on recruiting rankings but Miami has doubts about Al Golden’s coaching and Nebraska has doubts about the players learning Mike Riley’s system, especially the defense. The quarterback battle should be a fun one as UM’s Brad Kaaya is a proven young gun and NU’s Tommy Armstrong Jr. has been a revelation in Riley’s offense so far.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, ABC / ESPN2
Snoozer:
Troy lost at NC State by 28 to open the season before knocking off an FCS team to enter at 1-1. Most would agree the Badgers are a better team than the Wolfpack so if it goes according to script, this one won’t be competitive in the slightest.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, BTN…or listen to “If You Want to be a Badger” 500 times on repeat, both should give the same level of headache.
Upset Watch:
Right End – Illinois at North Carolina – Tar Heels enter as 9.5 point favorites, meaning UI is by far the biggest underdog this weekend. I’m always skeptical of Larry Fedora’s UNC teams as they refuse to play defense and routinely have dumb turnovers. Illinois enters 2-0 with the offense riding high on confidence. Granted they haven’t played anybody but they seem to be buying what Bill Cubit is selling. If Illinois can perform at 75% efficiency of what they generated against the two cupcakes they’ve played, I think they can win.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPN2
Wrong End – Iowa is a 5.5 point favorite at home against a formidable Pitt team. The emotion of Tyler Sash’s passing and charged rivalry environment helped last week with motivation but with the two step forwards, one step back performances Iowa has had the last five years, it would surprise no one to drop this game with a flat effort. You’ve been warned, Hawkeyes.
Elsewhere (Alphabetical):
Indiana vs Western Kentucky – Hilltoppers are 2-0 but their combined margin of victory…5 points. Indiana pulled away from FIU and the offense is humming but Western won’t be afraid, they opened with a win at Vanderbilt so the power-5 environment isn’t new to them. It is no surprise then that this is a measly 1.5 spread right now.
- Saturday, 3pm, ESPNN
Maryland vs USF – Each team is 1-1 and each got blown out last week but to very different opponents. Maryland was embarrassed at home by Bowling Green of the MAC. USF was tossed around on the road at Florida State. The fact the Bulls kept that game close in the first half and how bad I assumed the Terps were going to be based on my preview, I think the Bulls might pull it off.
- Saturday, 11am, ESPNU
Michigan vs UNLV – The Rebs are in the middle of an intriguing experiment (more below in Random Musings) but if they are successful it will be over the course of years, not weeks so expect the much more polished and talented Wolverines to dominate.
- Saturday, 11am, BTN
Michigan State vs Air Force – Don’t ever sleep on the Falcons. This is a well coached team and enter 2-0. The possibility of a let down after such an important win is also a possibility…however, I think those factors make this game closer than expected, but I’m not predicting a calamity.
- Saturday, 11am, ABC
Minnesota vs Kent State – The Flashes may be the worst team in the MAC. Their 52-3 loss to Illinois should also give UM confidence in a blowout considering most would agree that the Gopher’s program is better than Illinois right now.
- Saturday, 11am, BTN
Ohio State vs Northern Illinois – We all know the Huskies are the marquee MAC program and they enter 2-0 with a win over a Mountain West foe (UNLV) but the Buckeyes should be able to win this one big. Their defense is too good for NIU to score three times and I think the only way to beat OSU would be to score 21+ and pray your defense comes up with some turnovers.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, ABC / ESPN2
Penn State vs Rutgers – Wow, where in the world is RU’s mental state right now with their best offensive weapon, Leonte Carro, suspended indefinitely and now coach Kyle Flood getting a three game suspension? PSU hasn’t played well this year so a full strength Knight team would’ve had a shot at an upset but now…I don’t see it. PSU gets another crack to look like the 10 win team so many of us predicted.
- Saturday, 7pm, BTN
Purdue vs Virginia Tech – Each are 1-1 but what do we really know about them? Tech’s starting quarterback, Michael Brewer, broke his collarbone against Ohio State and the win against FCS Furman told us nothing. Purdue let a golden opportunity slip away at Marshall before beating FCS Indiana State. Two shaky 1-1 teams to say the least but the Hokies’ talent on paper is much better.
- Saturday, 2:30pm, ESPNU
Random Musing
So…UNLV football’s ongoing experiment interests me greatly. Some backstory to put it into context. The Rebs football program is one of the younger ones, starting in 1968. A decade later they joined division 1a. Since then they have had a few ups but mostly downs. In 1999 they joined the Mountain West and have just 2 years above .500. Their last two coaches, Mike Sanford and Bobby Hauck, went a combined 31-92 (19-61) with a lone 7-6 season in 2013 as an oasis in a desert of losing.
That gets us to 2015 and their new coach Tony Sanchez. Sanchez turned around a California high school before getting a prestigious prep job at Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman where in six seasons he went 85-5 (37-0) and won six consecutive titles. There are very few coaches to have made the jump from prep to FBS. Gerry Faust did it with Notre Dame over 30 years ago and his tenure was so bad that no one tried again outside of one program. North Texas rolled the dice with Todd Dodge and he promptly went 6-37 (3-23).
Why would Sanchez be any different and why would anyone be excited to watch his tenure? Well the first thing is he is bringing a lot of humility to the job. One of Dodge’s mistakes was thinking he could do it all in the college ranks and bringing most of his staff with him. Sanchez went the opposite way. His defensive coordinator is Kent Baer, a long time assistant that has been in the college ranks for nearly 40 years and has stops at several Pac 12 schools. When you keep finding work like he has, it means people think highly of you. His offensive coordinator is Barney Cotton who has nearly 30 years of college experience, the bulk of it at Nebraska – up until Bo Pelini was fired. We all know how good some of those Husker offense were.
Then there is the personality Sanchez brings. He is selling Las Vegas as a city, not just a university. In the way Jerry Tarkanian did with great success as the basketball coach. There is a chance he bombs just like Dodge did at North Texas or Hauck did after a successful run at Montana but at least he is doing something different. Hauck didn’t take recruits to the strip. Sanchez in an ESPN interview talked about taking kids to the Las Vegas High Roller in the heart of Vegas. The High Roller is the world’s largest ferris wheel. How could kids not like his enthusiasm combined with getting amazing looks of the city and realizing they would get to go to college in a rare urban opportunity. In the way USC/UCLA sell the Los Angeles experience and The U sells the Miami lifestyle, Sanchez seems to be tapping into that.
UNLV may be going to the Big House as huge underdogs and 0-2 in Sanchez’s first season but if this experiment goes well, the Rebs could become a Mountain West power. It just takes a hot streak at the table to turn fortunes around.
Big Ten and Counting 